Samiye Tohidlou
Encyclopedia
Samiye Tohidlou (born 1979) is an Iranian blogger and political activist. She was sentenced to 50 lashes for her activities in protest of the 2009 presidential election in Iran.
Tohidlou is a doctoral student in sociology at Tehran University, and an active member of the Islamic Student Association. She was a volunteer for the 2009 presidential campaign
of Mir Hussein Mousavi. According to journalist Abbas Milani
, it was Tohidlou who had the idea of an "uninterrupted chain" of supporters and a green ribbon connecting Tehran’s rich, north neighborhoods with its poor south. The day after the election, June 14, her home was searched and her phone and laptop were confiscated and she was arrested. She was incarcerated in Evin prison
for 70 days and released with a bail of $200,000. A lower court sentenced her to one year in prison and 50 lashes, and an appeals court eliminated the one year prison sentence but upheld the flogging sentence. According to Kaleme website, her sentence was related to her blogging and other internet activities, but other sources state she was prosecuted for her planning the human chain between two squares in Northern and Southern Tehran in support of Mir Hossein Mousavi’s presidential campaign in 2009. Her lashes were administered 15 September 2011, and in conflict with the Islamist tenant of separation of the sexes
they were reportedly administered by a male, not a female. The punishment prompted her to write in her blog addressing her flogger:
Tohidlou is a doctoral student in sociology at Tehran University, and an active member of the Islamic Student Association. She was a volunteer for the 2009 presidential campaign
Iranian presidential election, 2009
Iran's tenth presidential election was held on 12 June 2009, with incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad running against three challengers. The next morning the Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran's official news agency, announced that with two-thirds of the votes counted, Ahmadinejad had won the election...
of Mir Hussein Mousavi. According to journalist Abbas Milani
Abbas Milani
Abbas Malekzadeh Milani is an Iranian-American historian and author. Milani is a visiting professor of Political Science and the director of the Iranian Studies program at Stanford University. He is also a research fellow and co-director of the Iran Democracy Project at Stanford University's...
, it was Tohidlou who had the idea of an "uninterrupted chain" of supporters and a green ribbon connecting Tehran’s rich, north neighborhoods with its poor south. The day after the election, June 14, her home was searched and her phone and laptop were confiscated and she was arrested. She was incarcerated in Evin prison
Evin Prison
Evin House of Detention is a prison in Iran, located in Evin, northwestern Tehran. It is noted for its political prisoners' wing, where prisoners have been held both before and after the 1979 Iranian Revolution...
for 70 days and released with a bail of $200,000. A lower court sentenced her to one year in prison and 50 lashes, and an appeals court eliminated the one year prison sentence but upheld the flogging sentence. According to Kaleme website, her sentence was related to her blogging and other internet activities, but other sources state she was prosecuted for her planning the human chain between two squares in Northern and Southern Tehran in support of Mir Hossein Mousavi’s presidential campaign in 2009. Her lashes were administered 15 September 2011, and in conflict with the Islamist tenant of separation of the sexes
Sex segregation in Iran
-Reza Shah Era:Reza Shah was against sex-segregation and he ordered Tehran University to enroll its first woman in 1936. Reza Shah forcibly unveiled women and promoted their education in the model of Turkey's Ataturk.-After the Islamic Revolution:...
they were reportedly administered by a male, not a female. The punishment prompted her to write in her blog addressing her flogger:
“Be happy. Your intention was my humiliation. I confess my whole body and soul experienced this humiliation. So much so that I can’t believe I can ever sustain it again. … You have humiliated me today. My pride was broken.”